System and method for optimized load balancing on 6 GHz radios using out-of-band discovery in a mixed AP deployment

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided by which all APs in a particular deployment can be used to assist in the out-of-band discovery of 6 GHz radios by client devices. That is, a series of iterative operations can be performed to: (I) determine the state of 6 GHz radios in a zone/deployment area; (II) identify what radios can be considered near-neighbors to non-6 GHz radios for purposes of advertising one or more of the 6 GHz radios; (Ill) rank neighboring 6 GHz radios for a given non-6 GHz radio based on certain radio metrics; and (IV) ultimately determine those 6 GHz radios that can be advertised by the given non-6 GHz radio.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Wireless digital networks are becoming ubiquitous in enterprises,providing secure and cost-effective access to resources. Those networksusually have one or more controllers, each controller supporting aplurality of access points (APs) deployed through the enterprise. Wi-Finetworks operating in accordance with IEEE 802.11 standards are examplesof such networks. Wireless network communications devices (also referredto as stations or client devices), such as personal computers and mobilephones transmit data across wireless digital networks vis-à-vis Wi-FiAPs, and cellular network APs, for example.

Wireless local area network (WLAN) infrastructure elements or componentsin a Wi-Fi network provide service to WLAN devices. The FederalCommunications Commission (FCC) recently approved the usage ofapproximately 1200 MHz of an unlicensed portion of the radio spectrum inthe 6 GHz band for WLAN operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure, in accordance with one or more variousembodiments, is described in detail with reference to the followingfigures. The figures are provided for purposes of illustration only andmerely depict typical or example embodiments.

FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a network configuration that may beimplemented for an organization, such as a business, educationalinstitution, governmental entity, healthcare facility or otherorganization.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example access point within which variousembodiments may be implemented.

FIG. 2B illustrates a multi-radio configuration of the example accesspoint of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example mixed AP deployment RF zone.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example collocated 6 GHz radio data superset.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example RF zone scanning scenario.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example intersection determination to generate afirst ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list.

FIG. 5 is an example computing component that may be used to identifythe non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that the given non-6GHz radio can consider a near-neighbor.

FIG. 6A illustrates an example updated data superset of the examplecollocated 6 GHz radio data superset of FIG. 3B.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example complementary, i.e., intermediatescanned-scanning radios, list.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example scanning scenario from the perspective ofnearby radios scanning a given radio under consideration.

FIG. 7B illustrates a second ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list.

FIG. 8 is an example computing component that may be used to identifynon-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that can consider a givennon-6 GHz radio a near-neighbor.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example of client devices (connected to a radioof interest) scanning radios in an RF zone relative to a radio ofinterest.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example of generating a third orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios list.

FIG. 10 is an example computing component that may be used to identifynon-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that client devices of agiven non-6 GHz radio can consider a near-neighbor.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example scenario where APs scan for clientdevices of a given radio.

FIG. 11B illustrates generation of a fourth ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios list based on virtual beacon reporting.

FIG. 12 is an example computing component that may be used to identifynon-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that can consider theclient devices of a given non-6 GHz radio a near-neighbor.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of generating a final orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios list based on previously determined firstthrough fourth ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios listspost-normalization.

FIG. 14 is an example computing component that may be used todetermining a 6 GHz radio that can be advertised in an RNR IE of a givennon-6 GHz radio.

FIG. 15 is an example computing component that may be used to implementvarious features of embodiments of the present disclosure.

The figures are not exhaustive and do not limit the present disclosureto the precise form disclosed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The FCC has approved the usage of about 1200 MHz of unlicensed spectrumin the 6 GHz band for WLAN operations. This effectively provides accessto 59 new channels, each of the new channels having a bandwidth of 20MHz. The new 59 channels can also be used as 29 channels, each having abandwidth of 40 MHz, 14 channels, each having a bandwidth of 80 MHz, or7 channels, each having a bandwidth of 160 MHz. To aid client devices inscanning these channels, the IEEE 802.11ax standard allows for anout-of-band discovery mechanism using an AP which has both 6 GHz andnon-6 GHz (e.g., 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) radios, referred to as collocatedradios. That is, an AP can use a non-6 GHz radio to advertise theavailability of a collocated 6 GHz radio to such client devices.

In particular, this advertising of a collocated 6 GHz radios by a non-6GHz radio can be performed by allowing an AP to advertise a ReducedNeighborhood Report Information Element (RNR IE) in its beacons, as wellas probe responses (to the RNR IE-populated beacons) on the non-6 GHzradio. Client devices that are capable of operating in the 6 GHz bandcan parse this RNR IE, and switch directly to the 6 GHz channel beingadvertised in the RNR IE, and connect directly to the correspondingservice set ID(s) (SSID(s)) of the radio operating on that channelinstead of spending time scanning the 6 GHz channels. This is intendedto save client devices from experiencing an expectedly high scanningduration due to the number of channels present in the band, e.g., clientdevices scanning each and every 6 GHz channel one-by-one.

In a deployment with multiple APs, the above-described out-of-banddiscovery mechanism could theoretically work well if all the APs in aparticular deployment had both 6 GHz radios and non-6 GHz radios.However, such a deployment is unrealistic. That is, typical deploymentsof APs include pre-existing or legacy/lower-end APs that may only have2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz radios. Because such legacy APs do not include acollocated 6 GHz radio, they will not be able to advertise a 6 GHzradio, and thus will not provide assistance to client devices when itcomes to identifying available radios operating on 6 GHz channels.

Fortunately, the 802.11ax standard does not necessarily limit the scopeof radios that can be considered to be collocated. Accordingly, the“looseness” or flexibility with which the 802.11ax standard considersradios to be collocated can be leveraged to maximize the advertising of6 GHz channel (radios) availability by way of non-6 GHz channels(radios), where the non-6 GHz radios may be on the same AP (collocated,e.g., on the same printed circuit board (PCB)), or may simply be nearby(e.g., a near neighbor radio that is not on the same AP).

In accordance with various embodiments, systems and methods are providedby which all APs in a particular deployment can be used to assist in theout-of-band discovery of 6 GHz radios by client devices. That is, aseries of iterative operations can be performed to: (I) determine thestate of 6 GHz radios in a zone/deployment area; (II) identify whatradios can be considered near-neighbors to non-6 GHz radios for purposesof advertising one or more of the 6 GHz radios; (Ill) rank neighboring 6GHz radios for a given non-6 GHz radio based on certain radio metrics;and (IV) ultimately determine those 6 GHz radios that can be advertisedby the given non-6 GHz radio.

Moreover, systems and methods are provided for dynamically modifying theset of advertised 6 GHz radios (in the RNR IE on non-6 GHz channels) inorder to ensure that a balanced load can be achieved for each of theadvertised 6 GHz radios. The load-balancing can be accomplished byadvertising a desired 6 GHz radio to client devices while they are stillscanning in the non-6 GHz channel. This will aid in reducing theoperational cost of load-balancing client devices between 6 GHz radiosat a later point in time using pre-exiting techniques because suchmethods may involve disassociating clients which would lead to themscanning the band. Moreover, the basic service set (BSS) mayincur/experience delayed connections due to the higher scanning time.

As alluded to above, certain APs can be configured to operate accordingto different modes, e.g., single-radio or multi-radio modes. It shouldbe understood that in single-radio mode, a single radio operates on agiven band, whereas in a multi-radio mode, such as a dual-radio mode,the radio chains of a radio can be grouped while operating on a givenband. That is, an AP may be configured to operate using logical orphysical radios such that an AP can operate in single-radio mode where asingle radio can utilize a given channel bandwidth allocation, e.g., 80MHz, or in dual-radio mode where the single radio can be split into tworadios, each utilizing the same or reduced or higher channel bandwidthallocation. As noted above, recently developed APs may comprisemulti-band radios that can operate with radio chains in the 5 GHz bandor 2.4 GHz band, as well as in the 6 GHz band.

As used herein, the term “radio chain” can refer to hardware that cantransmit and/or receive information via radio signals. Wireless clientdevices and/or other wireless devices can communicate with a networkdevice on a communication channel using multiple radio chains. As usedherein, the term “communication channel” (or channel) can refer to afrequency or frequency range utilized by a network device to communicate(e.g., transmit and/or receive) information. A radio chain can includetwo antennas such as a horizontal antenna and a vertical antenna, amongother possibilities. As used herein, the term “antenna” refers to adevice that converts electric power into radio waves, and/or vice versa.

It should be noted that the terms “optimize,” “optimal” and the like asused herein can be used to mean making or achieving performance aseffective or perfect as possible. However, as one of ordinary skill inthe art reading this document will recognize, perfection cannot alwaysbe achieved. Accordingly, these terms can also encompass making orachieving performance as good or effective as possible or practicalunder the given circumstances, or making or achieving performance betterthan that which can be achieved with other settings or parameters.

Before describing embodiments of the disclosed systems and methods indetail, it is useful to describe an example network installation withwhich these systems and methods might be implemented in variousapplications. FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a network configuration100 that may be implemented for an organization, such as a business,educational institution, governmental entity, healthcare facility orother organization. This diagram illustrates an example of aconfiguration implemented with an organization having multiple users (orat least multiple client devices 110) and possibly multiple physical orgeographical sites 102, 132, 142. The network configuration 100 mayinclude a primary site 102 in communication with a network 120. Thenetwork configuration 100 may also include one or more remote sites 132,142, that are in communication with the network 120.

The primary site 102 may include a primary network, which can be, forexample, an office network, home network or other network installation.The primary site 102 network may be a private network, such as a networkthat may include security and access controls to restrict access toauthorized users of the private network. Authorized users may include,for example, employees of a company at primary site 102, residents of ahouse, customers at a business, and so on.

In the illustrated example, the primary site 102 includes a controller104 in communication with the network 120. The controller 104 mayprovide communication with the network 120 for the primary site 102,though it may not be the only point of communication with the network120 for the primary site 102. A single controller 104 is illustrated,though the primary site may include multiple controllers and/or multiplecommunication points with network 120. In some embodiments, thecontroller 104 communicates with the network 120 through a router (notillustrated). In other embodiments, the controller 104 provides routerfunctionality to the devices in the primary site 102.

A controller 104 may be operable to configure and manage networkdevices, such as at the primary site 102, and may also manage networkdevices at the remote sites 132, 142. The controller 104 may be operableto configure and/or manage switches, routers, access points, and/orclient devices connected to a network. The controller 104 may itself be,or provide the functionality of, an access point.

The controller 104 may be in communication with one or more switches 108and/or wireless Access Points (APs) 106 a-c. Switches 108 and wirelessAPs 106 a-c provide network connectivity to various client devices 110a-j. Using a connection to a switch 108 or AP 106 a-c, a client device110 a-j may access network resources, including other devices on the(primary site 102) network and the network 120.

Examples of client devices may include: desktop computers, laptopcomputers, servers, web servers, authentication servers,authentication-authorization-accounting (AAA) servers, Domain NameSystem (DNS) servers, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)servers, Internet Protocol (IP) servers, Virtual Private Network (VPN)servers, network policy servers, mainframes, tablet computers,e-readers, netbook computers, televisions and similar monitors (e.g.,smart TVs), content receivers, set-top boxes, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), mobile phones, smart phones, smart terminals, dumbterminals, virtual terminals, video game consoles, virtual assistants,Internet of Things (IOT) devices, and the like.

Within the primary site 102, a switch 108 is included as one example ofa point of access to the network established in primary site 102 forwired client devices 110 i-j. Client devices 110 i-j may connect to theswitch 108 and through the switch 108, may be able to access otherdevices within the network configuration 100. The client devices 110 i-jmay also be able to access the network 120, through the switch 108. Theclient devices 110 i-j may communicate with the switch 108 over a wired112 connection. In the illustrated example, the switch 108 communicateswith the controller 104 over a wired 112 connection, though thisconnection may also be wireless.

Wireless APs 106 a-c are included as another example of a point ofaccess to the network established in primary site 102 for client devices110 a-h. Each of APs 106 a-c may be a combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware that is configured to provide wireless networkconnectivity to wireless client devices 110 a-h. In the illustratedexample, APs 106 a-c can be managed and configured by the controller104. APs 106 a-c communicate with the controller 104 and the networkover connections 112, which may be either wired or wireless interfaces.

The network 120 may be a public or private network, such as theInternet, or other communication network to allow connectivity among thevarious sites 102, 132 to 142 as well as access to servers 160 a-b. Thenetwork 120 may include third-party telecommunication lines, such asphone lines, broadcast coaxial cable, fiber optic cables, satellitecommunications, cellular communications, and the like. The network 120may include any number of intermediate network devices, such asswitches, routers, gateways, servers, and/or controllers, which are notdirectly part of the network configuration 100 but that facilitatecommunication between the various parts of the network configuration100, and between the network configuration 100 and othernetwork-connected entities.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example AP 200, which may be an embodiment of oneof the APs of FIG. 1 (e.g., APs 106 a-c). An AP can refer to anetworking device that allows a wireless client device to connect to awired or wireless network, and need not necessarily be limited to IEEE802.11-based APs. An AP can include a processing resource, e.g.,processor 210, a memory, e.g., memory 212, and/or input/outputinterfaces (not shown), including wired network interfaces such as IEEE802.3 Ethernet interfaces, as well as wireless network interfaces suchas IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi interfaces, although examples of the disclosure arenot limited to such interfaces.

AP 200 can include a radio 202 which may be a 5 GHz radio includingeight radio chains, 204-1, 204-2, 204-3, 204-4 . . . , 204-8. Each radiochain may include two antennas (204-1 a, 204-1 b. 204-2 a, 204-2 b,204-3 a, 204-3 b, 204-4 a, 204-4 b . . . , 204-8 a, 204-8 b). Forinstance, each radio chain can include a horizontal antenna and avertical antenna, among other possibilities. Each radio chain isavailable for both transmitting and receiving data. It should beunderstood that examples of the present disclosure are not so limited.Although not shown in FIG. 2A for clarity and so as not to obscureexamples of the present disclosure, each of the radio chains can beconnected to the plurality of antennas via a RF switch. As illustratedin FIG. 2B, AP 200 can be configured to operate using two (dual-radiomode) or more radios. For example, radio 202-1 can be dedicated to afirst communication channel 201 in the 5 GHz band, while radio 202-2 canbe dedicated to a second communication channel 203 in the 6 GHz band. Inother examples, radio 202-1 can be dedicated, again to communications inthe 5 GHz band, while radio 202-2 can be dedicated to communications inthe 2.4. GHz band.

It should be understood that while in some embodiments, the non-6 GHzradio can be either a 2.4 GHz radio or a 5 GHz radio, an AP can alsocomprise another 6 GHz radio that is operating on a primary scanningchannel (PSC), and can assist the clients in discovering other 6 GHzradios in an applicable zone/neighborhood. That is, informationregarding collocated 6 GHz radios can be carried in the RNR IE of acollocated non-6 GHz radio or collocated 6 GHz radio. It should also benoted that client devices can limit their scanning of 6 GHz channels toPSC channels from which insight into what is available on the non-PSCchannel can be derived. As another example, an AP may only include a 6GHz radio. In such a scenario, the physically nearest non-6 GHz radio(e.g., a 2.4 GHz radio or a 5 GHz radio or a 6 GHz radio operating onPSC channel) can be assigned as its collocated radio, and the mechanismsdescribed herein can be used for that 6 GHz radio's out-of-banddiscovery and load balancing.

Traditionally, in any radio frequency (RF) zone of a deployment (thatis, a zone in which multiple APs that may be able to detect each otherhave been installed or implemented), the APs are connected at theback-end, to a controller device that can aggregate the states ofdifferent APs and provide inputs to those different APs. In accordancewith some embodiments, a deployment can refer to or can be defined assome plurality of basic service set IDs (BSSIDs) (which corresponds tocell size) across a given geographical area, e.g., office building,warehouse, etc. An RF zone or simply zone can refer to a deploymentsubset comprising a plurality of APs that can hear, interfere with,and/or listen to each other. For example, a deployment may comprise aplurality of BSSIDs spread throughout a building having three stories,while a zone of the deployment may comprise one floor of the threestories.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example of such a zone 300 comprising a mixeddeployment of APs with each AP(i,j) having 6 GHz and/or non-6 GHzradios. For ease of reference, 6 GHz radios in AP(i,j) will be referredto as R(i,j), and non-6 GHz radios in an AP can be referred to asr(i,j).

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, zone 300 may include, for example, 16 APs,each having at least one non-6 GHz radio (e.g., a 5 GHz or 2.4 GHzradio). Some of the 16 APs making up the deployment of zone 300 may bemulti-radio APs that also comprise a 6 GHz radio. In the example of FIG.3A, AP (0,0), AP (0,3), AP (1,1), AP (1,2), AP (2,0), AP (2,3), AP (3,1)each include a non-6 GHz radio as well as a 6 GHz radio. In contrast, AP(0,1), AP (0,2), AP (1,0), AP (1,3), AP (2,1), AP (2,2), AP (3,0), AP(3,2), AP (3,3) may have at least one non-6 GHz radio, and no 6 GHzradios.

As alluded to above, various embodiments are directed to advertising 6GHz channel availability via non-6 GHz radios that are either physicallycollocated on an AP or, physically separate, but in a neighboring AP. Asper the example mixed deployment zone 300, multiple operations may beeffectuated across every 6 GHz and non-6 GHz radio in the APs of zone300, and a controller device to which the APs controlling these radiosare connected. In some embodiments, such a controller device may be anAP controller, such as controller 104 (FIG. 1 ). Again, the state of allthe APs with 6 GHz radios in zone 300 can be shared with APs deployed inzone 300 having non-6 GHz radios (that may or may not also have a 6 GHzradio).

It should be understood that the various operations, methods, processes,procedures, etc. described herein are generally performed by aprocessing or computing component(s) of an AP in which one or moreradios are implemented, as well as by a controller, such as an APcontroller. Operations that may be described herein as occurring orbeing performed by a radio should be understood as being performed bythe AP on which that particular radio is implemented or an AP controllerassociated with the AP.

I. Collating the State of 6 GHz Radios in a Zone

As noted above, various embodiments comprise mechanisms for allowingboth—APs with collocated radios (APs having both 6 GHz and non-6 GHzradios, as well as APs having, e.g., multiple 6 GHz radios), and thosewith either just non-6 GHz radio(s) or a single 6 GHz radio(non-collocated radios) to advertise 6 GHz channel availability bytreating physically non-collocated radios as logically collocatedradios, when possible. In some embodiments, an initial operation thatwill ultimately lead to the advertisement of 6 GHz radios by non-6 GHzradios can include defining a metric describing the state of a given 6GHz radio in a zone. That metric provides a way by which radios can becompared against one another, i.e., the metric can be used to qualifyand compare the 6 GHz radio against another 6 GHz radio. This metric canbe calculated by the 6 GHz radio across all its BSSs. In someembodiments, the metric (also referred to as a radio metric) may be aset of values that can, together, be used to determine which of the 6GHz radios should be advertised in an RNR IE of one or more non-6 GHzradios in the zone, such as zone 300.

In some embodiments, the aforementioned radio metric can be a valuereflecting the number of active clients associated to a 6 GHz radio. Itshould be noted that in some embodiments, for load balancing purposes,this metric can be used as a basis for assigning an advertisementpreference or priority. That is, in some embodiments, a 6 GHz radiohaving, e.g., a lower/lowest number of clients (relative to other 6 GHzradios in the zone) can be afforded a higher advertisement priority,meaning a less-utilized 6 GHz channel will be advertised via beaconedRNR IE originating from a non-6 GHz radio(s). For balancing activetraffic across 6 GHz radios, in some embodiments, the total number ofbytes transmitted and/or received over a given amount of time, may alsobe used as a condition or characteristic upon which load balancing canbe based. Accordingly, the radio metric associated with a 6 GHz radiocan be either of these characteristics or a combination of thesecharacteristics. In some embodiments, still other characteristics,conditions, features, etc. may form the basis or part of the basis onwhich load balancing can be performed across radios in a deployment,such as zone 300. Indeed most any characteristic, feature, condition,etc. that may be optimized in a given RF zone can make up, at least inpart, the aforementioned radio metric.

At periodic intervals of time, each 6 GHz radio in a zone may share thisradio metric information to a controller associated with the AP(s) towhich each of the 6 GHz radios belongs. It should be understood thatthis sharing of radio metric information (as is the case with otheroperations, e.g., updating information, channel scanning, etc. describedherein) need not be limited to regular, periodic intervals. Rather,sharing, updating of information, scanning, etc. can also occur atrandom time intervals, or even as a single-occurrence operation, orotherwise, aperiodically. The controller may then collate or aggregatethe respective radio metric information from all the relevant APs in thezone. As will be described in greater detail below, collating of suchinformation can be accomplished by way of AP reporting to, e.g., an APcontroller, or by an AP controller polling for such information from itsconnected APs. As mentioned above, this receipt/collating of informationcan occur periodically or aperiodically. In some embodiments, the radiometric information regarding those 6 GHz radios can be used to generatea list, table, or other aggregated data set indicating at least: (a) the6 GHz radios in the zone, e.g., zone 300, identified by their respectivemedia access control (MAC) address; (b) corresponding 6 GHz radiometrics information; and (c) all the (physically) collocated non-6 GHzradios corresponding to the identified 6 GHz radios (again identified byMAC address).

It should be noted that this aggregate listing of 6 GHz radios, 6 GHzradio metrics information, and corresponding collocated non-6 GHz radiosneed not necessarily be ordered in any way. In some embodiments, thisaggregate list comprises a superset of all the 6 GHz radios present in azone that can be broadcast to all the non-6 GHz radios (collocated aswell as non-collocated) in the zone. Such non-6 GHz radios can use thissuperset to further determine which of the identified 6 GHz radiosshould be advertised in the RNR IE of a non-6 GHz radio beacon forout-of-band discovery. In some embodiments, this information can beupdated periodically by all 6 GHz radios and as a result, thebroadcasted summary or superset from the controller is also updated.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example superset table 310 summarizing the 6 GHzradios in zone 300, the corresponding radio metrics of those 6 GHzradios, and corresponding collocated non-6 GHz radios. For example, andas described above, zone 300 (FIG. 3A) comprises a mixed AP deploymentwhere the following APs comprise at least a 6 GHz radio: AP (0,0); AP(0,3); AP (1,1); AP (1,2); AP (2,0); AP (2,3); AP (3,1). As reflected insuperset table 310, the following 6 GHz radios are identified: R (0,0);R (0,3); R (1,1); R (1,2); R (2,0); R (2,3); R (3,1). As alluded toabove, and reflected in superset table 310, radios may be identified viatheir respective MAC addresses. It should be understood that thenomenclature used in the present disclosure (row/column) is for ease ofreference.

As described above, each of the identified 6 GHz radios can haveassociated radio metrics information relevant to that 6 GHz radio, e.g.,number of active client devices associated to the AP andcommunicating/using the 6 GHz channel provided by the 6 GHz radio,throughput (e.g., number of bytes transmitted and/or received over agiven time period), or other characteristic(s)/condition(s), or somecombination thereof. Those 6 GHz radio metrics are represented insuperset table 310 as the following: m1, m2, m3, . . . m7. It should beunderstood that the “mX” labeling convention is merely for example/easeof reference purposes. Superset table 310 may have a 6 GHz radio metricsfield that comprises actual values, numerical information, or other dataindicative of or reflecting the aforementioned radio metrics.

As also noted above, superset table 310 may indicate or reflect thosenon-6 GHz radios collocated with each respective 6 GHz radio. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 3B, superset table 310 reflects that: R(0,0) is physically collocated with r (0,0); R (0,3) is physicallycollocated with r (0,3); R (1,1) is physically collocated with r (1,1);R (1,2) is physically collocated with r (1,2); R (2,0) is physicallycollocated with r (2,0); R (2,3) is physically collocated with r (2,3);and R (3,1) is physically collocated with r (3,1). It should beunderstood that zone 300 and superset table 310 are examples, and notmeant to limiting. As noted above, a mixed AP deployment may have APscomprising two 6 GHz radios, a single 6 GHz radio only, etc., andsuperset table 310 would reflect such scenarios. It should be understoodthat in situations where an AP may have two 6 GHz radios or a single 6GHz radio, a collocated non-6 GHz radio with which a 6 GHz radio isassociated may be designated to be a physically nearest non-6 GHz radio(logical collocation). For example the physically nearest 5 GHz radiocan be assigned, and embodiments disclosed herein can be applied in suchsituations with respect to out-of-band discovery or load balancing. Itshould be noted that when a 6 GHz radio, e.g., reports its own radiometrics to a controller, e.g., corresponding AP controller, anidentifier (e.g., MAC address) of its collocated non-6 GHz radio canalso be reported as well/at the same time.

II. Identifying the Neighboring 6 GHz Radios for Each of the Non-6 GHzRadios in the Zone

As noted above, a summary of all the 6 GHz radios (that are implementedas part of one or more APs) in a zone of a mixed AP deployment, alongwith their corresponding radio metrics information, and their associatedcollocated non-6 GHz radio can be provided to a controller, which canthen disseminate the summary (superset table 310) to each non-6 GHzradio in the zone. Once every non-6 GHz radio in the zone obtains or isprovided with a copy of superset table 310, a subset of the 6 GHz radiosthat are “near-neighbors” of (closest to) a given non-6 GHz radio can bedetermined.

Referring back to FIG. 3A, consider for example zone 300, and the non-6GHz radio for AP (3,2), i.e., r (3,2). Although zone 300 includes an AP(0,0) that has a non-6 GHz radio r (0,0) and a 6 GHz radio R (0,0), itshould be understood that advertising R (0,0) in the RNR IE transmittedwith a beacon from r (3,2) may not be valuable to client devices. Thisis because the distance between AP (3,2)/r (3,2) to which a clientdevice may be associated or to which the client device listens, may beprohibitively far such that the client device (close to AP (3,2)) maynot be able to effectuate a connection to AP (0,0). However, AP (3,2)/r(3,2) may be able to make a determination regarding advertising the 6GHz radios from AP(3,1) or AP(2,3), i.e., R (3,1) or R (2,3).

Thus, in accordance with some embodiments, every AP having a non-6 GHzradio in a zone, e.g., zone 300, may identify which of the 6 GHz radiospresent in zone 300 can be considered to be near-neighbors so that thenon-6 GHz radios can include near-neighbor 6 GHz radios in the subset of6 GHz radios that can be considered for advertising in the non-6 GHzradio's RNR IE.

Again, in accordance with various embodiments, determinations regardingwhich 6 GHZ radio in a zone (whether collocated with a given non-6 GHzradio or not) should be advertised by the non-6 GHz radio channel(s) ofan AP in a zone are made. It should be understood that although variousembodiments disclose systems and methods of optimizing advertising aswell as load balancing across radios/APs, various embodiments may stillresult in a 6 GHz radio being advertised by more than one non-6 GHzradio in its zone. Recall that per the 802.11ax standard, the only non-6GHz radios that advertise 6 GHz radio channels are those non-6 GHzradios that are collocated with the 6 GHz radio whose channel it canadvertise. In contrast, various embodiments enable non-6 GHz radios toadvertise 6 GHz radios regardless of whether a particular non-6 GHzradio is physically collocated with the advertised 6 GHz radio, so longas it may be considered to be a near-neighbor of the 6 GHz radio. Thisoptimization can be performed in accordance with a plurality ofapproaches using non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios as a“reference point.” That is, the same subset of 6 GHz radios can beoptimized from four perspectives: (i) identifying non-6 GHz radioscollocated with 6 GHz radios that the given non-6 GHz radio can considera near-neighbor (in other words, identifying all APs/radios in an RFzone that a given AP/radio can hear); (ii) identifying non-6 GHz radioscollocated with 6 GHz radios that can consider the given non-6 GHz radioas a near-neighbor (in other words, identifying what APs/radios can hearthe given AP/radio); (iii) identifying non-6 GHz radios collocated with6 GHz radios that the client devices of the given non-6 GHz radio canconsider as a near-neighbor (in other words, identifying what APs/radioscan the client devices of the given AP/radio hear); and (iv) identifyingthe non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that can consider theclient devices of the given non-6 GHz radio as a near-neighbor (in otherwords, identifying what APs/radios can hear the client devices of thegiven AP/radio). It should be noted that the terms “hear” or “listen” inthis context may mean being able to receive frames like probe responses,probe requests, and any other frames used for scanning or discovery withsufficient signal strength (as described in accordance with variousembodiments).

It should be understood that this four-pronged approach is used becausethe wireless links between any two devices (between a client device andAP/radio, between APs/radios) are asymmetric. Thus, every wireless linkfrom every direction/perspective can be considered, thereby providingbetter optimization in terms of selecting or determining which 6 GHzradio channels to advertise from which non-6 GHz radio. Moreover, thewireless links between different devices may have differentcharacteristics, and thus again, taking into account all these differentcharacteristics allows selecting which 6 GHz radio channels to advertisefrom which non-6 GHz radio (any and every non-6 GHz radio) to beoptimized to the fullest extent.

i. Identifying the Non-6 GHz Radios Collocated with 6 GHz Radios thatthe Given Non-6 GHz Radio can Consider a Near-Neighbor

In accordance with a first of the aforementioned perspectives, all non-6GHz radios that are collocated with a 6 GHz radio, and whosetransmissions can be decoded by a given non-6 GHz radio in the zone areidentified. This approach allows a given non-6 GHz radio to identifynear-neighbor non-6 GHz radios with collocated 6 GHz radios in the zonethat can be assumed or approximated as being “close enough,” for thedistance to the given non-6 GHz radio, i.e., such that their signalstrength is considered sufficiently strong to allow a client device toconnect.

In some embodiments, the periodic scans that every AP performs on itsown radios in order to discover the neighboring APs and client devicescan be leveraged. That is, every given non-6 GHz radio in a zone canlisten for beacons, probe responses and any proprietary frames intendedfor scanning and discovery (e.g., over-the-air (OTA) frames)(transmitted by other radios) to identify neighbor APs. This informationcan be used to create a list of the neighboring radios ordered by signalstrength (i.e., received signal strength information (RSSI)). Anintersection of these scan results against the superset table 310 canidentify the non-6 GHz radios—and thereby also their collocated 6 GHzradios—that are near-neighbors for the given non-6 GHz radio.

To account for a special case where the scanning non-6 GHz radio iscollocated with a 6 GHz radio, the scanning non-6 GHz radio can beincluded as one of the scanned radios in a list of scanned radios aswell, so that it may also be included in the aforementioned intersectionbetween the superset table 310 and this scanned radios list. Thisensures that the scanning non-6 GHz radio considers its physicallycollocated 6 GHz radio as part of its near-neighbors.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, FIG. 4A illustrates an examplescanning scenario in zone 300, while FIG. 4B illustrates an examplescanned radios list (or table) 400, that can be an ordered list/table,that after determining the intersection with superset table 310, resultsin a first ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list or table 410. Thisfirst ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 410 provides a list ofthe ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios in accordance with perceivedcloseness by/to the given scanning non-6 GHz radio.

In particular, radio r (2,2) may perform a periodic scan of BSSs near toit, after which radio r (2,2) can group the BSSs on a radio-basis. Asillustrated in FIG. 4A, the scanning area encompasses the following APs:AP (1,1); AP (2,1); AP (3,1); AP (1,2); AP (2,2); AP (3,2); AP (1,3); AP(2,3); and AP (3,3). It should be understood that the scanning area mayreflect what an AP/radios of an AP can hear. As a result of the scanningby AP (2,2) from the perspective of radio r (2,2), the scanned radiostable 400 can be generated, and following this example, results in theinclusion of the following non-6 GHz radios: r (1,1); r (2,1); r (3,1);r (1,2); r (2,2); r (3,2); r (1,3); r (2,3); and r (3,3). This list ofnon-6 GHz radios that results from a periodic scan performed by radio r(2,2) can be ordered based on RSSI, e.g., from strongest to weakest,recalling the radio r (2,2) is itself included in the list. The AP (2,2)can, from the perspective of a given non-6 GHz radio, i.e., radio r(2,2), determine the intersection of the scanned radios table 400 withthe superset table 310 to identify those 6 GHz radios that can beconsidered to be near-neighbors of radio r (2,2). Of those scanned APs,four of the nine APs in the scanned area are APs that have non-6 GHzradios collocated with 6 GHz radios, i.e., radios R (1,2), R (2,3), R(1,1), R (3,1). This order of 6 GHz radios reflects the correspondingsignal strength, i.e., from strongest to weakest RSSI. Moreover, thecorresponding 6 GHz radio metrics can also be determined and reflectedin the first ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 410.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing component or device500, such as an AP processor or controller processing/computingcomponent in accordance with one embodiment. Computing component 500 maybe, for example, a computing component capable of processing data. Inthe example implementation of FIG. 5 , the computing component 500includes a hardware processor, 502, and machine-readable storage medium,504. In some embodiments, computing component 500 may be an embodimentof AP processor 210 (FIG. 2B), a processor or computing component of acontroller, such as controller 104 (FIG. 1 ), which may be a networkcontroller, AP controller, etc.

Hardware processor 502 may be one or more central processing units(CPUs), semiconductor-based microprocessors, and/or other hardwaredevices suitable for retrieval and execution of instructions stored inmachine-readable storage medium, 504. Hardware processor 502 may fetch,decode, and execute instructions, such as instructions 506-512. As analternative or in addition to retrieving and executing instructions,hardware processor 502 may include one or more electronic circuits thatinclude electronic components for performing the functionality of one ormore instructions, such as a field programmable gate array (FPGA),application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other electroniccircuits.

A machine-readable storage medium, such as machine-readable storagemedium 504, may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physicalstorage device that contains or stores executable instructions. Thus,machine-readable storage medium 504 may be, for example, Random AccessMemory (RAM), non-volatile RAM (NVRAM), an Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage device, an opticaldisc, and the like. In some embodiments, machine-readable storage medium504 may be a non-transitory storage medium, where the term“non-transitory” does not encompass transitory propagating signals. Asdescribed in detail below, machine-readable storage medium 504 may beencoded with executable instructions, for example, instructions 506-512.

Hardware processor 502 may execute instruction 506 to scan all channelsits band. As noted above, each non-6 GHz radio (implemented in each AP)operating in an RF zone may perform channel scanning. An AP may performscanning to allow an AP to tune the non-6 GHz radio (or any of itsradios) to tune to a different channel, detect interference sources,rogue/ad-hoc Wi-Fi networks, other neighboring Wi-Fi networks, etc.

Hardware processor 502 may execute instruction 508 to, as a result ofthe scanning, create a scanned radios list of the discovered non-6 GHzradios ordered by signal strength, e.g., strongest to weakest RSSI. Asnoted above, the non-6 GHZ radio performing this scanning may beincluded in the scanned list (an embodiment of which is scanned radiostable 400 (FIG. 4B)). This can be done for the case where the scanningnon-6 GHz radio is collocated with a 6 GHz radio in an AP so that whenan intersection between a superset 6 GHz radio list and the scannedradios list is determined (discussed below), any physically collocated 6GHz radio will be considered to be a near-neighbor of the scanning non-6GHz radio.

Hardware processor 502 may execute instruction 510 to determine theintersection between the scanned radios list and a 6 GHz radio zonesuperset list. In some embodiments, the superset list (embodied forexample, as superset table 310 (FIG. 3B)) is a summary of all the 6 GHzradios present in a zone that can be broadcast to all the non-6 GHzradios (collocated as well as non-collocated with a 6 GHz radio) in thezone. Determining the intersection of radios (radios that are identifiedin both the superset list and the scanned radios list) allows thescanning non-6 GHz radios to ultimately determine which of theidentified 6 GHz radios can be advertised in the RNR IE of a non-6 GHzradio beacon for out-of-band discovery.

Hardware processor 502 may execute instruction 512 to store an output ofthe intersection determination as an ordered 6 GHz radios list that arenear-neighbors to the scanning non-6 GHz radio (embodied, for example,as first ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 410). Like the scannedradios list discussed above, this ordered list of near-neighbor 6 GHzradios can be ranked from strongest RSSI to weakest RSSI. At this point,a first subset of 6 GHz radios that a particular non-6 GHz radio mayadvertise vis-à-vis its beacons (in the RNR IE) is achieved, this firstset being optimized from the perspective of identifying those non-6 GHzradios collocated with 6 GHz radios that the scanning non-6 GHz radiocan consider a near-neighbor.

ii. Identifying the Non-6 GHz Radios Collocated with 6 GHz Radios thatcan Consider the Given Non-6 GHz Radio as a Near-Neighbor

Identifying those non-6 GHz radios that are collocated with 6 GHz radiosthat can consider a given non-6 GHz radio, e.g., the scanning non-6 GHzradio discussed above in (i), to be a near-neighbor provides anotheroptimization perspective that can be complementary to identifying thenon-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that the scanning non-6GHz radio can consider a near-neighbor. That is, instead of a givennon-6 GHz radio scanning for non-6 GHz radios that are collocated with 6GHz radios, radios that can scan a given radio are identified, which canbe considered to be the inverse to the first near-neighbor determinationdescribed above. This allows a scanned non-6 GHz radio to be identifiedas a near-neighbor of the scanning AP's 6 GHz radio, and can be treatedas being close enough for the distance to the scanning AP's 6 GHz radio,i.e., such that its signal strength is considered sufficiently strong toallow a client device to connect.

As described above, APs already perform periodic scans on their radiosfor neighborhood discovery. In accordance with some embodiments, thisinformation can be derived from the non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6GHz radios in an AP, and added to the radio metrics information that isbeing passed onto the controller, e.g., AP controller. The informationcan be appended to the superset list or table of 6 GHz radios in thezone, e.g., superset table 310 (FIG. 3B) by including the scannedresults for each of the non-6 GHz radios with the radio metricsinformation provided to the controller by the 6 GHz radios in the zone.As before, these results are obtained by scanning the BSS and groupingthem on a radio-basis. The result can be represented in an updated (ofsuperset table 310) superset table 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 .

Now, for a given non-6 GHz radio, the 6 GHz radios in the zone (makingup the superset list, e.g., those radios listed in superset table 310)whose collocated non-6 GHz radios were able to scan the given non-6 GHzradio can be identified from updated superset table 600, and again,serves as complementary data to the superset list of 6 GHz radios. Insome embodiments, as reflected in FIG. 6A, this addition ofcomplementary data can be performed by reorganizing superset table 310such that superset table 310 is indexed by each non-6 GHz radio in ascan results field or column. The updated superset table 600 can beordered in terms of RSSI strength, and similar to the first orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 410, updated superset table 600 alsoincludes the given non-6 GHz radio, i.e., radio r (2,2).

That is, and continuing with the above example using non-collocatednon-6 GHz radio r (2,2) of AP (2,2) in zone 300, updated superset table600 may include the 6 GHz radio superset, each 6 GHz radio'scorresponding radio metrics information, an indication of each 6 GHzradio's collocated non-6 GHz radio, and the (appended) scan resultsobtained by scanning for the given non-6 GHz radio, in this case, radior (2,2).

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, from the perspective of a non-6 GHz radio,e.g., r (2,2), being scanned by a non-6 GHz radio that is collocatedwith a 6 GHz radio, it is determined that five non-6 GHz radioscollocated with a 6 GHz radio can scan the radio r (2,2). Thus, theircollocated 6 GHz radios can be considered near-neighbors to the scanningradio r (2,2). As a result, and as reflected by second orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 700 illustrated in FIG. 7B, thenear-neighbor 6 GHz radios relative to r (2,2), ordered based on RSSIwith which their collocated non-6 GHz radios scanned r(2,2), is asfollows: R (1,2); R (2,3); R (2,0); R (1,1); and R (3,1). In otherwords, the second ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 700 reflectsthose near-neighbor 6 GHz radios ordered in terms of perceived closenessby those APs that scanned the given non-6 GHz radio r(2,2).

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example computing component or device800, such as a controller or an AP processor in accordance with oneembodiment. Computing component 800 may be, for example, a computingcomponent capable of processing data. In the example implementation ofFIG. 8 , the computing component 800 includes a hardware processor, 802,and machine-readable storage medium, 804, similar to computing component500, hardware processor 502, and machine-readable storage medium 504.Machine-readable storage medium 804 may be encoded with executableinstructions, for example, instructions 806-812. In some embodiments,computing component 800 may be an embodiment of processor 210 (FIG. 2B)or a computing component of controller 104 (FIG. 1 ).

Hardware processor 802 may execute instruction 806 to scan all channelsin its band. Again, at this stage of optimization, each non-6 GHz radiothat is collocated with a 6 GHz radio in the RF zone may perform thisscanning for the purpose of determining what collocated non-6 GHz radiosare able to detect a given non-6 GHz radio in the RF zone during theirrespective scans.

Hardware processor 802 may execute instruction 808 to create a scannedradios list of discovered non-6 GHz radios ordered by signal strength,i.e., RSSI.

Hardware processor 802 may execute instruction 810 to share the scannedradios list with the controller to generate a complementary list indexedby the scanned radios, each radio “record” making up the complementarylist, comprising an ordered list of 6 GHz radios collocated with non-6GHz radios that scanned an index radio. It should be understood that theindex radio refers to that radio that each collocated non-6 GHz radiodiscovers during its respective scanning process. In other words, anindex radio can be considered to a reference point or radio relative towhich the scanning is performed. Referring to the example describedabove, the index radio is radio r (2,2). It should be understood thatthe scanning radio, i.e., each collocated non-6 GHz radio is itselfincluded in the scanned radios list. It should also be understood thatat the controller, each scanned radios list shared by a collocated non-6GHz radio can be collated, such that the resulting complementary list isan aggregate complementary list that, again, is indexed by the “scannedradios,” and ordered.

Referring back to FIG. 6A, for example, the collocated non-6 GHz radio r(0,0), upon performing its scan, detects the following radios: r (0,0);r (0,1); r (1,0); r (1,1). That is, from the perspective of radio r(0,0), each of these scanned radios are close enough to be consideredneighboring radios/APs. Each collocated non-6 GHz radio, upon performingis periodic scan, results in scanned radios relative to that collocatednon-6 GHz radio. However, from the perspective of a given non-6 GHzradio, the index radio, e.g., radio r (2,2), those collocated non-6 GHzradios that detect radio r (2,2) are only the following radios: r (1,1);r (1,2); r (2,0); 4 (2,3); and r (3,1).

Hardware processor 802 may execute instruction 812 to determine anintersection of the complementary list and the original superset listtransmitted by the controller, the output of which is stored as a secondordered 6 GHz radios list reflecting those 6 GHz radios that are nearneighbors to the index radio at each index radio. That is, and referringto FIG. 6B which illustrates an example complementary list (alluded toabove) represents a converted indexing. From updated superset table 600,which maps scanning radio to list of scanned radios, a complementarylist 610 can be derived from updated superset table 600 which maps ascanned radio to the radios that performed the scanning to detect thescanned radio. Considering the given non-6 GHz radio r(2,2), scanned byr(1,2), r(2,3), r(2,0), r(1,1), and r(3,1), the intersection betweenthis tuple and superset table 310, will result in the second orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 700 (FIG. 7B).

iii. Identifying the Non-6 GHz Radios Collocated with 6 GHz Radios thatthe Client Devices of the Given Non-6 GHz Radio can Consider to be aNear-Neighbor

The aforementioned optimizations can be performed to capture theperspectives of collocated non-6 GHz radios that a given non-6 GHz radiocan consider near-neighbors, and those collocated non-6 GHz radios thatcan consider the given radio as a near-neighbor. In accordance with thisoptimization mechanism, those radios that can be scanned by the clientdevices of a given non-6 GHz radio can now be identified. Thisinformation can then be used to create a third ordered list of 6 GHzradios to which the client devices (or any new client device) may have abetter chance of transitioning. It should be understood that thisoptimization mechanism can be considered as being similar to theoptimization performed to capture those collocated non-6 GHz radios thata given-radio can consider near-neighbors ((i)), except that the scannedradios information may be derived from the client devices associated tothe given non-6 GHz radio as opposed to the radio itself.

It should be understood that this scanning information from the clientdevice perspective provides a client device's view of the RF zone, andcan be useful in scenarios where the client devices for a given radioare not necessarily uniformly distributed. This scanning information canalso be useful in scenarios where the client devices may additionally,or alternatively, favor certain neighboring radios more than otherradios. It should be understood that a client device may favor aparticular radio based on client device-side implemented preferences,but can also be a function of RSSI and/or path lossmeasurements/information. This allows a given non-6 GHz radio toidentify those near-neighbor 6 GHz radios that may be preferable interms of signal strength and path loss from the perspective of clientdevices operating on the given non-6 GHz radio.

Like APs, client devices may also perform periodic or non-periodic orsingular-executed channel scans, and may also maintain a list of radiosordered by signal strength, e.g., RSSI, similar to ordered scannedradios table 400 (FIG. 4B). Client device scanning can be performed todetermine a suitable AP to which the client device may roam (now or inthe future). These client device scans can be performed at a clientdevice by listening to beacons and probe responses (or any other framesthat can be used for scanning and discovery) across the nearby channelsat regular intervals. As previously described, a client device scan maybe performed across all BSSs around the client device, but the resultscan be grouped on a per radio-basis.

In particular, a given non-6 GHz radio can request beacon reports fromthe client devices that are currently connected to the given non-6 GHzradio using standard or proprietary mechanisms (e.g., as set forth inthe 802.11k standard). It should be understood that a beacon report canprovide information about all the radios that a client device hasscanned in its vicinity and those radios' respective signal strengths asseen/measured by the client device. From these beacon reports that thenon 6-GHz radio obtains from all its associated client devices, thenon-6 GHz radio can create a first aggregated list of neighboring non-6GHz radios. This first aggregated list can be ordered by a metric thatdepends on the number of clients that report the non-6 GHz radio, andthe non-6 GHz radio's corresponding RSSI measurement from those clientdevices. Similar to the aforementioned optimization processes, an AP candetermine the intersection between this aggregated list, represented asaggregated table 900 (FIG. 9A) and superset table 310 (FIG. 3A). Thedetermined intersection can be used to derive/results in a thirdnear-neighbor 6 GHz ordered list or table 910. This third near-neighbor6 GHz ordered table 910 can be a list of those near-neighbor 6 GHzradios ordered or ranked in accordance with client device-perceivedcloseness to the given non-6 GHz radio under consideration.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example of client device-based scanning in zone300, again with radio r (2,2) being the given—radio (or radio underconsideration). As illustrated in FIG. 9A, radio r (2,2) may be thenon-collocated non-6 GHz index radio. As described above, radio r (2,2)may obtain beacon reports from one or more clients devices associatedwith radio r (2,2), i.e., connected to an AP on that particular radio.The client device beacon reports relay RSSI information from theperspective of each client device attached to the radio r (2,2). In thisexample, the beacon reports from the client devices associated withradio r (2,2) indicate that the client devices detect, by virtue ofperiodic scanning, the following non-6 GHz radios in zone 300: r (2,3);r (2,1); r (1,2); r (3,2); r (1,1); r (2,0); r (3,3); r (3,1); r (0,3).

FIG. 9B illustrates a first aggregated table 900 representative of theclient device-detected non-6 GHZ in zone 300 ranked or ordered from mostfrequent and strongest associated RSSI to least frequent and weakestRSSI (in other words, per the client device-reported RSSI and the numberof client devices reporting the particular non-6 GHz radio in respectivebeacon reports). Again, the given radio is in this case, radio r (2,2),and AP (2,2)/radio r (2,2) may determine the intersection between firstaggregated table 900 and superset table 310. The intersection of thesedata sets results in a third ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table910 that reflects those 6 GHz radios in zone 300 that are considered tobe near-neighbors to radio r (2,2). The ranking mechanism used for firstaggregated table 900 can be used to rank/order third orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 910.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example computing component or device1000, such as a controller, or an AP processor in accordance with oneembodiment. Computing component 1000 may be, for example, a computingcomponent capable of processing data. In the example implementation ofFIG. 10 , the computing component 1000 includes a hardware processor,1002, and machine-readable storage medium, 1004, similar to computingcomponent 500, hardware processor 502, and machine-readable storagemedium 504. Machine-readable storage medium 1004 may be encoded withexecutable instructions, for example, instructions 1006-1014. In someembodiments, computing component 1000 may be an embodiment of controller104 (or computing component thereof) (FIG. 1 ), processor 210 (FIG. 2B).etc.

Hardware processor 1002 may execute instruction 1006 obtain beaconreports from each associated client device pursuant to each associatedclient device scanning all the channels in its band. As noted above,each non-6 GHz radio in a zone may obtain beacon reports from the clientdevices associated to that non-6 GHz radio to ascertain strength andfrequency of detected RSSI associated with other non-6 GHz radios in thezone.

Hardware processor 1002 may execute instruction 1008 to create anordered aggregated list of neighboring non-6 GHz radios based on theobtained beacon reports (e.g., first master table 900). The ordering ofthe neighboring non-6 GHz radios included in the aggregated list can bebased on the aforementioned relative frequency and strength of clientdevice-measured RSSI.

Hardware processor 1002 may execute instruction 1010 to determine theintersection between the aggregated list and an original superset list(e.g., superset table 310 (FIG. 3B) of 6 GHz radios in the zone receivedfrom a controller. The intersection determination can be made toidentify those 6 GHz radios in the zone that are considered as beingnear-neighbors to the given radio from the perspective of client devicesassociated with the given radio. Again, client devices may benon-uniformly distributed in the zone relative to APs/radios therein,and client devices may have different AP/radio preferences. This clientdevice-based optimization may account for this non-uniformity andAP/radio preferences.

Hardware processor 1002 may execute instruction 1012 to store the outputof the determined intersection as an ordered list of 6 GHz radios thatare near-neighbors to the given radio to which the client devices areattached (as alluded to above). This ordered list may be a thirdnear-neighbor 6 GHz radios ordered list that can be ranked from mostfrequent and strongest RSSI to least frequent and weakest RSSI. Itshould be noted that using the scan results from different clientdevices may result in some radios being scanned by many client deviceswith high RSSI, some by only a few client devices with high RSSI, someby many client devices with different RSSI values, etc. Accordingly, thefrequency and strength of RSSI allows various embodiments to rank theaggregated list based on what is heard and how often.

iv. Identifying the Non-6 GHz Radios Collocated with 6 GHz Radios thatcan Consider the Clients of the Given Non-6 GHz Radio as a Near-Neighbor

As will be described below, this approach of identifying non-6 GHzradios collocated with 6 GHz radios that can consider the client devicesassociated with a given non-6 GHz radio to be near-neighbors complementsthe above-described client device-based optimization approach. That is,instead of client devices of the given non-6 GHz radio scanning fornon-6 GHz radios that are collocated with 6 GHz radios, an attempt toidentify APs that can scan these client devices associated with thegiven radio is made. This optimization approach seeks to identify allthe collocated non-6 GHz radios in a zone, and that are able to scan theassociated client devices of a given non-6 GHz radio in the zone. Thiswill allow the given non-6 GHz radio to be identified as thenear-neighbor of the scanning AP's 6 GHz radio based on the view of thechannel derived from the other APs based on client devices'transmissions. This optimization approach can be considered to besimilar to the above-described optimization approach (ii) directed toidentifying the non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHz radios that canconsider the given non-6 GHz radio as a near-neighbor. The differencebetween the two approaches is that in accordance with the previousradio-based optimization, the scanned information is derived from thegiven radio in a zone, wherein this client device-based optimizationapproach, information can be derived from the client devices associatedto a given non-6 GHz radio.

Certain WLANs may leverage an existing mechanism whereby APs' radios areable to scan the probe requests from all the client devices in itsvicinity. Information from the APs' radios may be aggregated and sent upto a controller. This mechanism can be used for each non-6 GHz radio tocollect the RSSI information for all possible client devices in anetwork. This is irrespective of whether the client devices happen to beassociated to a reference AP or not. The RSSI/signal strengthinformation may be passed to the controller at certain intervals, e.g.,in the form of regular reports. The controller may collate these reportsfrom these AP radios, and may create a second aggregated list or tablethat can be indexed by a hash of each relevant client device's MACaddress. Each row in the second aggregated table includes the signalstrength/RSSI, and other parameters for each of the radios thatidentified (via AP scanning) the particular client device. A subset ofthis table, called as the virtual beacon report, is passed down to eachAP and includes the information of the clients associated to it—that is,the radios in the zone that discovered all or a subset of the clients.That is, a controller can convert the second aggregated table into aconverted table indexed by the “scanned radios,” which may have a row ofclient device MAC addresses (of which some client devices are associatedto radio r (2,2)). Those “rows” may be taken by the controller and sentto radio r (2,2), i.e., the aforementioned virtual beacon report.

As an example, FIG. 11A illustrates a scenario, where AP (2,2) has anon-collocated non-6 GHz radio r (2,2). Although not illustrated forclarity-sake, it should be understood that one or more client devicesmay be associated to AP (2,2), and may operate on, e.g., a channelprovided by non-6 GHz radio r (2,2). As also illustrated in FIG. 11A,those APs that can identify the one or more client devices via scanninginclude, in this particular example, AP (1,2), AP (2,3), and AP (3,1),where the APs are those having non-6 GHz radios collocated with 6 GHzradios that can consider the identified/scanned client devicesassociated to AP (2,2) as being near-neighbors thereto.

FIG. 11B illustrates an aggregated virtual beacon reporting table 1100reflecting all non-6 GHz radios in the zone 300 that, upon scanning,detect or identify one or more client devices attached to an AP on whicha non-collocated non-6 GHz radio is operating. As illustrated in FIG.11B, those non-6 GHz radios in zone 300 able to scan/detect clientdevices associated to AP (2,2) via information ascertained by radio r(2,2) include the following non-6 GHz radios: r (2,3); r (2,1); r (1,2);r (3,2); r (3,1). Again, radio r (2,2) may derive this information fromvirtual beacon reports received from other APs in the vicinity of AP(2,2) in which radio r (2,2) is implemented. The aggregated virtualbeacon reporting table 1100 may be ranked, similar to the firstaggregated table 900, in accordance with frequency and strength of RSSImeasured by client devices.

As is done with first aggregated table 900, the radio may determine theintersection between aggregated virtual beacon reporting table 1100 andsuperset table 310 (FIG. 3B). This intersection determination can beperformed to determine those of the identified non-6 GHz radios that arecollocated with a 6 GHz radio. In this instance, those collocated non-6GHz radios are radio r (2,3), radio r (1,2), and radio r (3,1). Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 11B, a resulting fourth ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios list or table 1110 includes the corresponding 6 GHz radioscollocated with radio r (2,3), radio r (1,2), and radio r (3,1), whichare 6 GHz radios R (2,3), R (1,2), and R (3,1). As can also beappreciated, fourth ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 1110 can beordered based on the same ranking as done for aggregated virtual beaconreporting table 1100. Moreover, fourth ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios table 1110 may include the related radio metrics informationassociated with each of the identified 6 GHz radios that are consideredto be near-neighbors to the given radio r (2,2).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example computing component or device1200, such as an AP processor in accordance with one embodiment.Computing component 1200 may be, for example, a computing componentcapable of processing data. In the example implementation of FIG. 12 ,the computing component 1200 includes a hardware processor, 1202, andmachine-readable storage medium, 1204, similar to, e.g., computingcomponent 500, 800, or 1000, hardware processor 502, 802, 1002, andmachine-readable storage medium 504, 804, 1004. Machine-readable storagemedium 1204 may be encoded with executable instructions, for example,instructions 1206-1214. In some embodiments, computing component 1200may be an embodiment of a controller, such as controller 104 (FIG. 1 ),an AP processor, such as processor 210 (FIG. 2B), etc.

Hardware processor 1202 may execute instruction 1206 to receive from acontroller, an ordered list reflecting collocated non-6 GHz radios in azone capable of scanning a client device associated with a given radioin a zone. It should be understood that each non-6 GHz radio collocatedwith a 6 GHz radio in the zone may scan all channels in its operatingband to identify all client devices, whether or not connected to thenon-6 GHz radio. Each of these non-6 GHz radios may share the scanresults with a controller. As described above, the controller maycollate or aggregate the scan results received from each of thecollocated non-6 GHz radios, and generate an ordered list or table thatis indexed by the scanned client devices. Each row may contain anordered list (ordered by RSSI) of the non-6 GHz radios that scanned theclient device in that row (index-client). The controller may furtherpass, to each non-6 GHz radio, a subset of the ordered list commensuratewith the one or more client devices associated with each particularnon-6 GHz radio, i.e., a “virtual” beacon report, along with a number ofclient devices for which it is reported. This can be converted into anordered list of non-6 GHz radios such that the order can be based onassociated RSSI frequency and RSSI strength.

Hardware processor 1202 may execute instruction 1208 to determine anintersection between the ordered list (relevant relative to the one ormore client devices associated with a particular non-6 GHz radio), andan original superset list of 6 GHz radios in the zone. As describedabove, the intersection may identify those 6 GHz radios collocated withthe non-6 GHz radios identified in the relevant ordered list, as those 6GHz radios may be considered to be near-neighbor 6 GHz radios to thegiven radio.

Accordingly, hardware processor 1202 may execute instruction to store anoutput reflecting the determined intersection as an ordered list of 6GHz radios in the zone that are near-neighbors to the given radio.Again, the order may be defined in terms of RSSI frequency and RSSIstrength measured from the perspective of the one more clientsassociated with the given radio.

It should be understood that in some scenarios, it is possible that twonon-6 GHz radios that have equivalent RSSIs (as determined in accordancewith one or more of the aforementioned optimization approached) can havedifferent RSSIs for a corresponding collocated 6 GHz radio because the 6GHz radios may have a different transmission power. In such a scenario,various embodiments may weigh the measured RSSIs differently, e.g.,based on a ratio of the power of a 6 GHz radio to the power of non-6 GHzradio). These weighted RSSIs normalize the non-6 GHz radios and 6 GHzradios power difference, and may be used as the measure against whichthe radios are ordered.

III. Combining Ordered Near-Neighbor 6 GHz Radios Lists for the GivenNon-6 GHz Radio

As discussed above, the asymmetric nature of wireless links, clientdevice preferences, etc. can lead to differing information regarding thecharacteristic(s)/state(s) of a radio depending on how/from whatperspective information regarding or associated with a radio isobtained. Moreover, scanning can be thought of as a best-effort processthat can be limited by the duration of a scanning process, channelconditions, probability of detecting frames, and so on. Accordingly, thefour aforementioned optimization approaches allow ordered or rankedlists of neighboring 6 GHz radios that can accurately (or as accuratelyas possible) be considered nearest to a given non-6 GHz radio to bedetermined. It should be understood that each of the above-describedoptimization approaches for determining near-neighbor 6 GHz radios canbe repeated for every non-6 GHz radio in a given zone. The end resultcomprises four different ranked lists of 6 GHz radios that are nearestto a given AP/radio, relative to each non-6 GHz radio in the zone.

In some embodiments, each near-neighbor 6 GHz radio identified orreflected in a near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table or list may have itsranking normalized or weighted. For example, each identified 6 GHz radioin a particular ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list or table may beassigned relative to its originally-established ranking (per RSSIstrength and reporting frequency) and depending on how many 6 GHz radioswere identified in a particular list. FIG. 13 illustrates a set of fourordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios tables (where the given radio is r(2,2), following the above examples). A first ordered near-neighbor 6GHz radios table 1300 may have four identified 6 GHz radios, i.e., R(1,2), R (2,3), R (1,1), R (3,1). Although one of ordinary skill in theart could apply various normalization or weighting techniques, in thisparticular example, as described above, each 6 GHz radio may be assignedsome value between 0 to 100 depending on the number of 6 GHz radios arepresent in the list. In first ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table1300, four 6 GHz radios appear, and so the normalized rank equates to R(1,2) having a rank of 100, R (2,3) having a rank of 75, R (1,1) havinga rank of 50, and R (3,1) having a rank of 25, the numerical rank value.Normalized rankings in the second ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radioslist 1302 may be distributed per the five identified 6 GHz radios,resulting in valued rankings equaling 100, 80, 60, 40, and 20 (multiplesof five). The same weighting or normalization can be applied to each ofthe 6 GHz radios appearing in the third and fourth ordered 6 GHz radiostables 1304 and 1306, respectively.

As also illustrated in FIG. 13 , each set of ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios lists or tables can be combined into a final orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios list, e.g., list 1308. In accordance with theparticular normalization scheme described above, in some embodiments, afinal normalized rank may be assigned to each 6 GHz radio identified ineach of the ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios lists. For example, theaverage ranking for each 6 GHz radio may be determined (for those radiosappearing multiple times in the set of ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios lists), e.g., radio R (2,3) may have normalized ranks of 75, 80,100, and 100. The average or mean ranking assigned to radio R (2,3) inthe final ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 1308 may then be 89(75+80+100+100/4=88.75). If a particular radio does not appear (was notidentified in a particular ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list),that radio may be assigned a normalized weight/rank of 0. Again, itshould be understood that final ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radiostable, e.g., table 1308, is only one of a plurality of tables/lists(relative to one given radio, in this case, r (2,2) that may begenerated or derived. Thus, each non-6 GHz radio in a zone will have anassociated final near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list reflecting those 6 GHzradios that may be advertised in a particular non-6 GHz radio's RNR IE,where the non-6 GHz radio need not necessarily be physically collocatedwith a 6 GHz radio (in contrast to the 802.11ax standard). It should benoted that averaging rank is only one approach. In other embodiments,weighted schemes that prefer the results/utilization of one or more ofthe aforementioned optimization approaches (i-iv) may be used.

IV. Determining the 6 GHz Radio that can be Advertised in the RNR IE ofthe Given Non-6 GHz Radio

As noted above, final ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table 1308provides a given non-6 GHz radio in the RF zone, and a list of the mostpreferable 6 GHz radio/s that the non-6 GHz radio may advertise. Thisfinal ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table or list has been derivedusing the visibility between these radios and their corresponding clientdevices. However, the 6 GHz radio metrics corresponding to these radiosmay not necessarily be in the order of their ranking. For example,regarding radio R (2,3), it may have the highest normalized rank, butits radio metrics (referenced as m6) is only the second highest of theother radio metrics.

In some embodiments, the radios that may be chosen to be advertised mayfirst be chosen based on its ability to meet the near-neighbor criteriafrom the final ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios table. For example, ifthe criteria are for the rank to be greater than 50, only radios R(2,3)(having a radio metric of m6) and R(1,2) (having a radio metric of m4)will qualify, and be considered as the most preferable radios. However,these two radios may have different utilizations, and thus, in variousembodiments, the threshold for a final normalized ranking determinationregarding which 6 GHz radios can be considered as near-neighbors may bedependent on a particular implementation. Utilization as used herein,can refer to the radio metric information/values. That is, even thoughnon-6 GHz radio R(2,3) ranks higher than R(1,2), it may still bedesirable to advertise R(2,3) on r(2,2) as will as R(1,2).

In accordance with some embodiments, a goal may be to maximize the radiometrics for the 6 GHz radios that are deemed as being the closestnear-neighbors to the given non-6 GHz radio. To achieve this, theadvertising RNR IE may include information of the 6 GHz radio with thelower radio metric within this subset. This will provide the benefit ofload balancing between the 6 GHz radios as client devices connect tothem directly. This also minimizes the need for client device steeringat a later point in time. Thus, if radio metric m4 is less than radiometric m6, in accordance with various embodiments, the radio metricinformation of 6 GHz radio R(1,2) may be included in the RNR IEs of thenon-6 GHz radio r(2,2) on AP(2,2) until the radio metric informationgets updated and the metrics or the neighborhood rankings change.

In cases, where there are more than one neighboring 6 GHz radios withsimilar radio-metrics, the selection of radios for populating the RNR IE(to be advertised) can alternate between those neighboring 6 GHz radioshaving similar radio-metrics. This may enable a network to maintain abalanced load between the 6 GHz radios. Thus, if radio metrics m4 and m6are equivalent, the radio metrics information of R(1,2) and R(2,3) arealternatingly included in the RNR IEs of the non-6 GHz radio r(2,2) onAP(2,2) until the information gets updated and the metrics or theneighborhood rankings change.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example computing component or device1400, such as an AP processor, e.g., processor 210 (FIG. 2B) orcontroller 104 in accordance with one embodiment. Computing component1400 may be, for example, a computing component capable of processingdata. In the example implementation of FIG. 14 , the computing component1400 includes a hardware processor, 1402, and machine-readable storagemedium, 1404, similar to, e.g., computing component 500, 800, or 1000,hardware processor 502, 802, 1002, and machine-readable storage medium504, 804, 1004. Machine-readable storage medium 1404 may be encoded withexecutable instructions, for example, instructions 1406-1412.

Hardware processor 1402 may execute instruction 1406 to receive, at anon-6 GHz radio in a zone, collated 6 GHz radio metrics broadcast from acontroller, the radio metrics being collected by each 6 GHz radio in thezone. As described above, in accordance with some embodiments, aninitial operation that will ultimately lead to the advertisement of 6GHz radios by non-6 GHz radios can include defining a metric describingthe state of a given 6 GHz radio in a zone. That metric provides a wayby which radios can be compared against one another, i.e., the metriccan be used to qualify and compare the 6 GHz radio against another 6 GHzradio. This metric can be calculated by the 6 GHz radio across all itsBSSs.

Hardware processor 1402 may execute instruction 1408 to identifyneighboring 6 GHz radios for each of the non-6 GHz radios in the zone inaccordance with each of a plurality of near-neighbor optimizationmechanisms. As noted above, a summary of all the 6 GHz radios (that areimplemented as part of one or more APs) in a zone of a mixed APdeployment, along with their corresponding radio metrics information,and their associated collocated non-6 GHz radio can be provided to acontroller, which can then disseminate the summary (e.g., a supersetlist) to each non-6 GHz radio in the zone. Once every non-6 GHz radio inthe zone obtains or is provided with a copy of the superset list of 6GHz radios, a subset of the 6 GHz radios that are “near-neighbors” of(closest to) a given non-6 GHz radio can ultimately be determined.

Hardware processor 1402 may execute instruction 1410 to combine orderedlists of near-neighbor 6 GHz radios for the non-6 GHz radio, the non-6GHz radio comprising a given radio under consideration. As describedabove, a first optimization approach may be to identify the non-6 GHzradios collocated with 6 GHz radios that a given non-6 GHz radio canconsider a near-neighbor. A second optimization approach may becomplementary to the first optimization approach, wherein the non-6 GHzradios collocated with 6 GHz radios in the zone that can consider thegiven non-6 GHz radio a near-neighbor can be identified. A thirdoptimization approach may identify those non-6 GHz radios collocatedwith 6 GHz radios that client devices of the given non-6 GHz radio canconsider a near-neighbor. A fourth optimization approach can involve, asa complement to the third optimization, identifying the non-6 GHz radioscollocated with 6 GHz radios that consider the client devices of thegiven non-6 GHz radio a near-neighbor.

Hardware processor 1402 may execute instruction 1412 to determine a 6GHz radio that can be advertised by the non-6 GHz radio. Again, each setof ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios lists or tables created inaccordance with each of the four optimization approaches for each non-6GHz radio in a zone can be normalized and combined to determine those 6GHz radios that should be preferably advertised by each non-6 GHz radio.

It should be understood that advertising 6 GHz radios in the disclosedmanner can provide a valuable improvement to conventional WLAN systems,because client devices would be willing to move to 6 GHz channelswhenever possible in order to use the cleaner, under-utilized and widerchannels in that band. With the higher costs of designing tri-radio APs,various embodiments will also allow non-6 GHz (dual-band) APs toparticipate in 6 GHz out-of-band discovery and add value in a 6 GHz loadoptimization.

FIG. 15 depicts a block diagram of an example computer system 1500 inwhich various of the embodiments described herein may be implemented.The computer system 1500 includes a bus 1502 or other communicationmechanism for communicating information, one or more hardware processors1504 coupled with bus 1502 for processing information. Hardwareprocessor(s) 1504 may be, for example, one or more general purposemicroprocessors.

The computer system 1500 also includes a main memory 1506, such as arandom access memory (RAM), cache and/or other dynamic storage devices,coupled to bus 1502 for storing information and instructions to beexecuted by processor 1504. Main memory 1506 also may be used forstoring temporary variables or other intermediate information duringexecution of instructions to be executed by processor 1504. Suchinstructions, when stored in storage media accessible to processor 1504,render computer system 1500 into a special-purpose machine that iscustomized to perform the operations specified in the instructions.

The computer system 1500 further includes a read only memory (ROM) 1508or other static storage device coupled to bus 1502 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 1504. A storage device 1510,such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or USB thumb drive (Flash drive),etc., is provided and coupled to bus 1502 for storing information andinstructions.

In general, the word “component,” “system,” “database,” and the like, asused herein, can refer to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or toa collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exitpoints, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, Cor C++. A software component may be compiled and linked into anexecutable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or may bewritten in an interpreted programming language such as, for example,BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that software componentsmay be callable from other components or from themselves, and/or may beinvoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Softwarecomponents configured for execution on computing devices may be providedon a computer readable medium, such as a compact disc, digital videodisc, flash drive, magnetic disc, or any other tangible medium, or as adigital download (and may be originally stored in a compressed orinstallable format that requires installation, decompression ordecryption prior to execution). Such software code may be stored,partially or fully, on a memory device of the executing computingdevice, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions maybe embedded in firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be furtherappreciated that hardware components may be comprised of connected logicunits, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be comprised ofprogrammable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors.

The computer system 1500 may implement the techniques described hereinusing customized hard-wired logic, one or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmwareand/or program logic which in combination with the computer systemcauses or programs computer system 1500 to be a special-purpose machine.According to one embodiment, the techniques herein are performed bycomputer system 1500 in response to processor(s) 1504 executing one ormore sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory1506. Such instructions may be read into main memory 1506 from anotherstorage medium, such as storage device 1510. Execution of the sequencesof instructions contained in main memory 1506 causes processor(s) 1504to perform the process steps described herein. In alternativeembodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions.

The term “non-transitory media,” and similar terms, as used hereinrefers to any media that store data and/or instructions that cause amachine to operate in a specific fashion. Such non-transitory media maycomprise non-volatile media and/or volatile media. Non-volatile mediaincludes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as storage device1510. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 1506.Common forms of non-transitory media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, solid state drive, magnetic tape, orany other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical datastorage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, aPROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip orcartridge, and networked versions of the same.

Non-transitory media is distinct from but may be used in conjunctionwith transmission media. Transmission media participates in transferringinformation between non-transitory media. For example, transmissionmedia includes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, includingthe wires that comprise bus 1502. Transmission media can also take theform of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated duringradio-wave and infra-red data communications.

As used herein, the term “or” may be construed in either an inclusive orexclusive sense. Moreover, the description of resources, operations, orstructures in the singular shall not be read to exclude the plural.Conditional language, such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might,” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understoodwithin the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certainembodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certainfeatures, elements and/or steps.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing, the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like. The term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof. The terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike. The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one ormore,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in someinstances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intendedor required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for identifying near-neighbor non-6 GHzradios in a radio frequency (RF) zone of a wireless local area network(WLAN) through which one or more of the 6 GHz radios in the WLAN may beadvertised for out-of-band discovery, the method comprising: identifyinga first set of non-6 GHz radios collocated with a first set of 6 GHzradios that a given non-6 GHz radio considers to be near-neighbors;identifying a second set of non-6 GHz radios collocated with a secondset of 6 GHz radios that consider the given non-6 GHz radio to be anear-neighbor; identifying a third set of non-6 GHz radios collocatedwith a third set of 6 GHz radios that client devices of the given non-6GHz radio consider to be near-neighbors; identifying a fourth set ofnon-6 GHz radios collocated with a fourth set of 6 GHz radios thatconsider client devices of the given non-6 GHz radio to benear-neighbors; based on the identifying of the first, second, third,and fourth sets of non-6 GHz radios, creating, by an access point (AP)controller in the WLAN, an ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios listranking 6 GHz radios in the RF zone for the given non-6 GHz radio: anddisseminating, by the AP controller, the ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios list to the given non-6 GHz radio.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the first, second, third, and fourth sets of non-6 Hz radioscomprise respective subsets of all the non-6 GHz radios in the RF zone.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second, third, and fourthsets of 6 GHz radios comprise respective subsets of all the 6 GHz radiosin the RF zone.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the firstset of non-6 GHz radios collocated with the first set of 6 GHz radiosthat the given non-6 GHz radio considers to be near-neighbors comprisesscanning, by an AP including the given non-6 GHz radio, all channels inits operating band.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprisingcreating a scanned radios list of discovered non-6 GHz radios ordered bysignal strength.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprisingdetermining an intersection between the scanned radios list and a 6 GHzradio superset list.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingstoring an output of the intersection determination as a first orderednear-neighbor 6 GHz radios list, the first ordered near-neighbor 6 GHzradios list comprising the first set of 6 GHz radios.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein identifying the second set of non-6 GHz radioscollocated with the second set of 6 Ghz radios that consider the givennon-6 GHz radio to be a near-neighbor comprises deriving an orderedcomplementary list indexed by scanned radios.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein the ordered complementary list indicates scanning radios thatscanned one of the indexed scanned radios.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising determining an intersection between a given of theindexed scanned radios and the original superset of 6 GHz radios. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth setsof non-6 GHz radios are one of physically or logically collocated withrespective first, second, third, and fourth sets of 6 GHz radios. 12.The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the third set of non-6 GHzradios physically collocated with the third set of 6 GHz radios thatclient devices of the given non-6 GHz radio consider to benear-neighbors comprises obtaining beacon reports from each clientdevice associated to an AP including the given non-6 GHz radio, eachclient device scanning all channels in a respective operating band. 13.The method of claim 12, further comprising creating an orderedaggregated list of neighboring non-6 GHz radios based on the beaconreport.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining anintersection between the ordered aggregated list and an originalsuperset of 6 GHz radios in the RF zone.
 15. The method of claim 14,further comprising storing an output of the determined intersection asan ordered list of 6 GHz radios that are determined near-neighbors tothe given non-6 GHz radio, the ordered list of 6 GHz radios comprisingthe third set of 6 GHz radios.
 16. The method of claim 1, whereinidentifying the fourth set of non-6 GHz radios physically collocatedwith the fourth set of 6 GHz radios that consider client devices of thegiven non-6 GHz radio to be near-neighbors comprises receiving, at an APincluding the given non-6 GHz radio, an ordered list reflectingcollocated non-6 GHz radios in the RF zone capable of scanning a clientdevice associated to the given non-6 GHz radio.
 17. The method of claim16, further comprising determining an intersection between a relevantsubset of the ordered list and an original superset of 6 GHz radios inthe RF zone.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising storing anoutput reflecting the determined intersection as an ordered list of 6GHz radios in the RF zone that are near-neighbors to the given non-6 GHzradio, the ordered list of 6 GHz radios comprising the fourth set of 6GHz radios.
 19. The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating theidentification of the first, second, third, and fourth sets of non-6 GHzradios from respective perspectives of all other non-6 GHz radios in theRF zone.
 20. An access point (AP) operating in a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN), comprising: a first non-6 GHz radio, wherein the AP doesnot include a 6 GHz radio; a processor; and a memory unit includingcomputer code that when executed causes the processor to execute amethod of identifying near-neighbor non-6 GHz radios in a radiofrequency (RF) zone of the WLAN through which one or more of the 6 GHzradios in the WLAN may be advertised for out-of-band discovery, themethod comprising: identifying a first set of non-6 GHz radioscollocated with a first set of 6 GHz radios that the first non-6 GHzradio considers to be near-neighbors; identifying a second set of non-6GHz radios collocated with a second set of 6 GHz radios that considerthe first non-6 GHz radio to be a near-neighbor; identifying a third setof non-6 GHz radios collocated with a third set of 6 GHz radios thatclient devices of the first non-6 GHz radio consider to benear-neighbors; identifying a fourth set of non-6 GHz radios collocatedwith a fourth set of 6 GHz radios that consider client devices of thefirst non-6 GHz radio to be near-neighbors; based on the identifying ofthe first, second, third, and fourth sets of non-6 GHz radios, creatingan ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list ranking 6 GHz radios in theRF zone for the first non-6 GHz radio; and advertising (disseminating),in accordance with the ordered near-neighbor 6 GHz radios list, a 6 GHzradio in the RF zone in at least one of a discovery beacon and proberesponse of the first non-6 GHz radio.